Took me 4 months to get a simple fence permit in Charlotte

I wanted to put up a 6 foot privacy fence in my backyard near Plaza Midwood. City planning told me it'd be a straightforward 2 week process. After 4 months of back and forth, wrong paperwork, and a random site visit that got canceled twice, I finally got the approval yesterday. Anyone else dealt with the city dragging their feet on basic permits?

2 comments

2 Comments

eric_price2d ago

I actually read a news piece about Charlotte's permit system being one of the slowest in the state for residential stuff. They said the average wait for a simple fence permit is like 8 to 10 weeks, so 4 months is honestly not surprising to me. My neighbor tried to put up a 5 foot fence near NoDa and got stuck in the same loop of wrong forms and canceled inspections. The city's website is a total mess too, I tried looking up the process once and got three different versions of the same form. I honestly think they just don't have enough people working those desks, so everything gets pushed to the back burner. It's ridiculous that something as BASIC as a fence takes longer than building a deck in some other towns.

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brooke5332d ago

I remember reading something from the Charlotte Observer a few months back about how their permit office is basically running on old tech and not enough staff. It said they were trying to hire more people but couldn't keep anyone because the pay was too low for the amount of work. That tracks with what you're saying about the website having three different forms for the same thing. My cousin lives over near Matthews and he tried to do a simple electrical upgrade and it took five months just to get a permit approved. It's wild how a city this big can't get basic stuff like that sorted out. You'd think with all the money coming in from new developments, they could at least fix the website so people aren't guessing which form to use.

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